(WSBT) A South Bend Police officer and two former St. Joseph County deputies have bonded out of the Lake County jail after pleading not guilty to federal charges.

The FBI arrested South Bend police officer Jamie Buford on Monday, along with former St. Joseph County deputies Ryan Huston and Andrew Taghon. They face drug and fraud charges. Taghon also faces charges for selling two stolen guns to a convicted felon.

A federal judge Wednesday afternoon released all four defendants after he ruled that prosecutors failed to prove the defendants are a flight risk or a danger to the community.

Taghon, Huston and Buford are being released from Lake County Jail, where they had been held since their arrests Monday. Rodovich released the men on $20,000 unsecured bond.

The fourth defendant, Daniel Alvarez, is being released from the Hammond City Jail.

Family members of the four defendants left the federal courthouse relieved.

But inside, federal prosecutors laid out just the beginning of a complex case. Prosecutors claimed — and WSBT and The South Bend Tribune first reported — that the stolen guns Taghon is accused of selling to a convicted felon are connected to the shooting of Cpl. Rick Ruszkowski in 2004.

“He's innocent of the charges and we look forward to the trial,” said Martin Kus, Taghon’s attorney.

Federal prosecutors also made claims against the defendants’ backgrounds.

They claim Taghon pulled some drivers over, after which evidence, including drugs and a weapon, went missing.

Prosecutors claimed Huston was involved with stolen drugs and the sale of stolen treasury notes and they claim Buford searched several homes from 2002-2004 without warrants. In some cases federal prosecutors say thousands of dollars from those homes disappeared.

“I think that somewhere some information came along, and the government of course has to act on that, but I think innocence will prevail,” said Buford’s sister Jennifer Ohda. “So I think he'll get a fair trial. It seemed like the judge in there was very fair and his attorney seems very competent so we’re very pleased.”

Alvarez was also in court. He's accused of selling the two stolen guns in this case and making false statement to the FBI. He also pleaded not guilty.

They will be back in court in January 2008 for a status hearing.

There are still a lot of questions, including four key players in the prosecution’s case that haven't been named.

Another man says he helped the officers sell that stolen merchandise on Ebay.

William Speybroeck spoke with our partners at The South Bend Tribune during a jailhouse interview in July.

He's the nephew of former St. Joseph County Sheriff Joe Speybroeck. He said he grew up with Taghon and Huston.

Speybroeck told the Tribune he supported himself and his family with the profits from selling the items.

He says he worked with the men for more than two years, but the indictment only lists an 8-month period from 2004 into 2005.

Speybroeck claims the officers wanted to cut him out of the deal. That's when he began tape-recording their conversations, which he turned over to the FBI.